trimming pen blanks to final length

[Jeffrey Fusaro]

i was making some jr. gentlemen's pens last night. it was time to trim the wood blanks to length, after the glue holding the brass tubes had dried.

i use pilot shafts and barrel trimmer heads to do this. unfortunately, i did not have the right size pilot shaft for either section of the pen. and, they were not listed in the CS catalog.

after rummaging thru the pilot shafts that i do own, i found a pilot shaft that was smaller than the inside diameter of each of the brass tubes in the pen blanks.

next, i found some left over brass tubes from previous pen projects (i always buy extras). i was able to find a spare brass tube that fit over the smaller pilot shaft and was still small enough to fit inside the brass tubes inside the pen blanks. i was able to trim the blanks without much fuss.

sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.

just thought i'd share...

[Benjamin Dahl]

jeffery, thanks for the tip. always a challenge when dealing with kits that are not compatible with standard barrel trimmer shafts.
Ben

[Bernie Weishapl]

Jeffery thanks for the idea.

[Dario Octaviano]

I make my own "shims" and just use the 7mm center guide/shaft.

How?

1. Buy extra tubes used on 7mm pens.
2. Drill and tube a wood like you would a 7mm pen.

or skip 1 and 2 and use any of your 7mm rejects if you have any.

3. Mill the ends like you would a pen.
4. Turn to match the inner diameter of whatever tube you need.
Note: if you didn't get a perfect fit...you can always build it up a bit with CA.

5. Repeat 1-4 for all size you may need.

When milling, just use your barrel trimmer with the 7mm center guide/shaft and use the proper "shim"

Hope this helps.

[Stan Cook]

or skip 1 and 2 and use any of your 7mm rejects if you have any.

Who has rejects?